An account in Doubs, France

On December 17, 2013 at around 7:15 PM, a witness, from a balcony, looked at the sky to show his parents the position of the stars using a new smartphone astronomy app. The witness was intrigued by a bright point not referenced on the app: taking binoculars, he observed a round white luminous point that remained static for about 15 minutes. The witness took photographs of the UAP (numbers 2 and 3 in the photo file) then went back inside to warm up. Upon returning to the balcony 5 minutes later, the object had disappeared. No particular noise was heard. No other testimony was collected. This case of observing a static white luminous point has all the characteristics of observing a celestial body, but checks turn out negative: on the one hand, the witness himself, who is using an astronomy software, cannot identify this luminous point among the celestial bodies. A check with another software (Stellarium, see attached document) shows in the field of view only the star Fomalhaut, not that bright (magnitude 1) and especially too low, and too far south relative to the indicated direction. The planet Venus has just set, and Jupiter (mag -2.7) is to the NE. GEIPAN analyzed other hypotheses: - Aircraft: the observed object is motionless for too long to be an aircraft. - Balloon: the sun sets at 4:44 PM, at this hour, only satellites are in sunlight. - A temporary spotlight at the top of the nearby hill (motorcycle, car, intervention): it is noted that there are paths at the top of the hill (see mapping) on which a vehicle could have parked. But the witness speaks of an elevation of 45°, far greater than the 5° angle at which the hill appears from Baume les Dames. - Thai lantern: the color rendered in the photo matches that of a Thai lantern (see illustration "lantern color space"); along the observation axis, several possible release sites are noted: leisure center, waystation, retirement home; lantern releases most often occur on weekends and holidays, but the observation takes place on a Tuesday, close to Christmas it is true. But this hypothesis fits poorly: Thai lanterns last between 5 and 10 minutes, this one would be at the limit of duration. The point-like appearance through binoculars also fits rather poorly: the witness should have distinguished a ball or an ellipse; lanterns move with the wind; while it is true that the Besançon weather (see attached document) indicates zero wind, it is still surprising to see a Thai lantern totally motionless. The hypothesis that could fit at a stretch remains that of a Thai lantern, but with characteristics at the limit for this kind of phenomenon. GEIPAN cannot clearly confirm this hypothesis. This case remains in category "C", due to lack of precise data on the position in the sky, and lack of cross-checking.